BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand believes Maurizio Sarri took a “huge, huge gamble” when he publicly criticised his team following Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal, the Evening Standard reports.
Arsenal were rarely troubled by the Blues, who conjured up just one shot on target in the 82nd minute despite having over 60 per cent of the possession, and goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny were enough to give the Gunners the victory.
The Chelsea boss was furious and laid into his players in his post-match press conference, in his native Italian, in order to send a message to his squad.
And though Ferdinand believes Sarri must demand a response from his side, he questioned whether a press conference was the best place to do that.
This is a huge, huge gamble from Sarri’s point of view. He’s looking for a response and rightly so – doing it publicly in a presser after a game, it’s questionable because these players have been through this with a couple of managers, and the managers get gone.
Chelsea have a recent history of trouble within the dressing room, with the likes of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte both leaving the club amidst controversies.
Sarri will be looking for a big response from his players when they host Tottenham on Thursday in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final, looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit.
